Coal in the Soul

A paradox of an impoverished castle wedged in rock and an exhausted village. How big is the scope of the interests of the coal tycoons? Will the castle and the surrounding villages disappear? Are there any winners and losers?

The film Coal in the Soul by Martin Dušek reveals two fundamental perspectives on brown coal mining in Northern Bohemia. By means of castle warden Hana and coal company representative Liběna, the question of the theme of breaking the mining limits is made clear. If the mining continues, there will be no castle, no village of Hořní Jiřetín, and the landscape will need some hundred years for renewal so that in the end, the winners might be defeated by their work.

The documentary film from Northern Bohemia was filmed on a digital photographic camera. Director Dušek admitted that they dived into unexplored waters, which was partially evident on the shaky and slightly unfocused images. However, soon the cameraman got familiar with the technology and the film's overall image quality can serve as an inspiration for other filmmakers.

The film is the best Czech documentary of the year 2010 as was awarded in the Česká radost competition during this year's International Festival of Documentary Films Jihlava.

The screening is in partnership with the International Documentary Film Festival Jihlava. The screening is the part of the echoes of IFDF Jihlava.